I enjoyed this graphic novel but think I need to read it again with a physical copy. I gave up about half way through this digital download due to being unable to read the small text while also enjoying the two-page spreads that are included and occasionally very important to the visual storytelling. I am looking forward to reading this one in its entirety as I liked the art and color choices. It seems to be based on Norse mythology, and I have just enough knowledge to follow those references.

I like the introduction of technology and how that affects the land. The author put a lot of thought into carefully crafting characters who care and who make me care about them. This should already be on your list to read! What are you waiting for?

This was an interesting graphic novel that had a fascinating mix of Nordic mythology and fantasy elements that shared a story about a dying earth due to corruption, exploiting of natural resources, and the troubled Goddesses and spirits that are affected by the effects of human and technological advancement.

I enjoyed how Nils started but as more elements of the story were introduced I became confused with the direction the story was going but also the erratic flow of scenes towards the middle and end. There were many scene jumps that made the climax feel disjointed and since there was a lot of action in these parts, it only left me feeling more confused with everything that was going on. I did go back to re-read scenes in case I missed anything but I still didn't get the clarity I was looking for. I had plenty of questions about the whole world and the characters in it -- Nils, the goddesses, the Cyan nation and how it came to be, and Alba's tribe of women hunters and how they survived. I wish that these elements were better explained so that we could have a better understanding of the story. There was also some romantic notions that were hinted at between one of the goddesses towards Nils which seemed unnecessary and didn't make me feel more sympathetic towards her fight to save him and human kind. It honestly creeped me out a little bit lol

That said, the artwork is simply stunning and it's what made me want to continue reading despite not fully understanding what was going on in the storyline. The color palette was well chosen and really reflected that 'cold tundra'/Nordic vibes that the story represented. The details were wonderful and I loved the distinctive look of all the different characters and where they came from. I thought the goddesses were illustrated interestingly as well! There were some elements of the illustrations, particularly to do with nature and the spirits, that really gave me Princess Mononoke / Miyazaki vibes and I loved it!

While Nils had an interesting and promising premise it unfortunately didn't follow through for me. The artwork was beautiful and I'd love to see more graphic novels illustrated by this artists, but I wish that the storyline had been more clear and easy to follow/understand.

Thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Books/Magnetic Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel will be published on 11 February 2020.

The story has a Nordic ring to it. It's a dystopian world where nothing grows anymore so the titular Nils and his father venture out to find the reason why. In the far north, they find metal creatures from a tech nation hunting spirits (harvesting them in a fashion) and being hunted by a shamanistic tribe in turn.
We also get some goddesses and the age-old question whether they should intervene or not while losing more and more believers. In addition, young Nils has visions of the dying World-Tree, sent by the goddesses, so he tries to save it.

Basically, the story is a mesh between mythology, fantasy and science fiction (or steampunk). Technology versus magic. New versus old. Mankind's eternal quest for power and eternal life - at all cost.

I have to admit that I have to partially agree with many other reviewers that say that the story wasn't as good as the art The elements sound intriguing but the execution ended up being a bit convoluted, I'm afraid.

What makes this so great and me so happy that I requested a copy, is the art! The story wasn't bad (neither the idea nor the end product) but can't hold a candle to the art. Really cool combination nevertheless.

Nils: The Tree of Life by Jérôme Hamon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was initially drawn to this because of the drawings. As I read, I still think the very best part of this graphic novel IS the art. It tells much more story than any of the words.

Is that bad? Well, possibly, if the words don't amount to that much character building or emotional connection. Indeed, the greatest portion revolves around technical worldbuilding that's about as creative as any number of Japanese video game ideas or even feeling like a Nordic version of Final Fantasy or one of the early Miyazaki films (Nausicaa).

I really WANT to like all of that. I've always liked these kinds of themes. Tree of Life, yo! Spirits of the dead and of Life itself!

So what happened? Why didn't I like it more?

I believe that you must love the characters, ease into them, establish them firmly before trying to go all out with the cool tragedies or big magics. There was little enough meat, here, to enjoy. Things happened and then other things happened and then a really big twist that came out of freaking nowhere changed the entire tone of the entire comic and while the RESULTS were cool, the JUSTIFICATION was really bad.

I'm almost of the opinion that we could practically wipe out all the TEXT and have all the artwork carry the entire tale. It was very strong. Maybe not perfect, but really gorgeous art.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book.

Nature has started to die in this world. Seeds do not grow, no new life is born and spirits are being harvested and used to fuel technology. The greed of men knows no bounds in this book as they harness elemental spirits directly from the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, and even attempt to destroy the gods themselves. (The allegory isn't lost on me.)

Overall, I didn't like this story very much. It was visually stunning, and I liked the premise well enough but there was too much hatred, and it was even boring, I struggled to finish it. Plus, the ending was so obvious!

When villagers start to realize that nothing new is growing or being born, a father and son set out to find out what is killing the Earth and stumble into a clash between a greedy technologically advanced empire, Norse gods, and confused villagers.

That is some beautiful artwork. The story is one that resonates with many, an average peasant boy up against the seemingly all-powerful, greedy empire, and the fate of the world in the balance. At times I felt like certain details were unclear or events happened so fast I had a little whiplash. So the pacing could’ve used a little more work. The overarching plot was fairly easy to follow, though. Mature readers who like dystopian-ish fantasy with touches of Norse mythology will likely want to pick this up, and those who like to read graphic novels just for the artwork.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues that I remember. No sexual content. The female gods look like they are wearing full body skin-tight suits or are naked but have no body details except abs and butts? I'd be a bit reluctant to hand this to teens because of this. There are several battles that result in deaths, some blood shown but nothing super gory. The death count is pretty high.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*ARC kindly provided by Netgalley*

I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm not a graphic novel reader. I wanted to try something new and get into graphic novels so, I gave this a shot. I mean what could go wrong with a high fantasy story set in a dystopian Nordic world?! Well, a few things sadly…

Unfortunately, I could not get into the story itself. The story was difficult to follow and didn’t feel cohesive. But besides the fact that I could not get into the written story, Nils: The Tree of Life is illustrated beautifully.

The artwork is what kept making me want to turn the page and keep going. The artwork gave me enough of the story that I didn't feel bad that I wasn't reading the conversations and exposition.

I would recommend people check out this book even if they aren't a fan of graphic novels because the artwork is outstanding.

Being a huge lover of Norse Mythology, I was hugely excited to see where this story would go. It didn't have the gods and goddesses that are known universally, but the three Norn it did use worked well for the story. It was gripping, exciting and immensly beautiful (visually). I found the time skips a bit difficult to keep up with, and the ending was a bit confusing without the extra information, but I still found it enjoyable. There needed to be more information about what was going on instead of solely relying on the graphics and commentary, especially since the writing is in a font that is extremely difficult to read sometimes (it got hard to discerne between "e" "c" "d" and "b"). The story could have been better, but it was still pretty awesome for what it was. I got this from NetGalley the same day I finished it so it isn't a long read. I think this would be a 2.5/5 for me.

My Review: As soon as I heard about this book and saw the cover I knew I had to read it. I was intrigued by the idea of reverting back to mythology in a dystopian world. I didn't get as much Norse mythology as I would have liked but it was still an epic story. The illustrations are amazing and the unique world was great. It was a bit difficult to follow and the reasoning behind events was not well explained. There are a few different unique cultures/religions throughout the story and I loved that idea but we didn't really get to see much of how those cultures evolved or how they have survived. The artwork though and the few character story lines that you can actually follow somewhat kept you turning pages. This was aesthetically beautiful but left me a bit confused and underwhelmed with the story.



My Rating: I had such high hopes for this one, I am always on the lookout for unique or mythology based graphic novels. The artwork in this was amazing and the concept was amazing as well, however the story delivery just lacked a bit. I give it a rating of Two Paws and a Stump Wag.

It’s not easy finding a graphic novel that offers up both great text and visuals, and unfortunately, I can’t say Nills: The Tree of Life does so either, thanks to the storyline. The visuals, on the other hand, are often stunning, save for the darker panels.

The story has potential, but it felt muddy and convoluted to me, and (I’ll admit this is a common issue for me and graphics) the characterization wasn’t particularly compelling. I don’t like to belabor negatives, so that’s all I’ll say about plot or character. The flip side is the artwork. My one issue, and one that only rose up on occasion, was that the dark panels were at times too dark, so much so that it obscured aspects that felt shouldn’t have been. But outside of those instances, the artwork was a treat to look at, often beautiful, often stunning, particularly the landscape/wider shots. Normally I’d not have recommended Nils, because I find story, even in graphics, to be vitally important. But the visuals are so gorgeous here that it’s hard to say people should skip this. If you like visuals, I’d try and find a library copy, and if you love artwork then it’s probably worth purchasing.

An Inconvenient Truth

This looks better than it reads, but since it looks great that may not be much of a criticism.

First, our plot. We have at least four sets of actors - clueless humans, human eco-warriors, technovillains, and earth Gods. Little elemental life sprites are responsible for making things breed and grow. But they're being harvested by the technovillains. Earth's balance is being upset, and the end of the sprites will mean, ultimately, the end of life. Insert topical metaphors here. There's no reason to be a wiseguy about this since that's a perfectly fine way to tell a tale. But it is a bit heavy-handed, and we do get a fair amount of monologuing. We also don't devote a lot of effort to building or developing the characters, because they are mostly placeholders for where they fit into the message. We go off the rails at the end, but by then I was into the story enough to be reasonably forgiving. Anyway, once the Tree of Life Yggdrasil is part of a story I'm pretty much in to the end.

As to the ending, I don't know if there was no coherent point, or if the author just couldn't clearly express his point, or if I somehow missed the point. Whichever it is, if that's where you end up at the end of a book, I don't think that's a good place to be. And it seems that everyone is giving the confusing and meandering storytelling a pass because of the great art. Well, maybe.

In the event, the book does look great. It is colored mostly in gentle blues and dark shades, giving everything a touch of wintry gloom. Pencils, lines, and inking are crisp and restrained. It's sometimes hard to tell characters apart, but that's not often a problem. Big splashes and set scenes are impressive. Mood, atmosphere, and big effects are all handled with assurance. This is definitely entertaining to look at.

Bottom line, then, is that this is more of a looker than a reader. Your enjoyment will probably turn in large measure on whether you're O.K. with that.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

*Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

The concept of this graphic novel had me intrigued from the start. I'm a huge fan of dystopian themes. I'm also a big fan of mythology. So a dystopian mythology influenced graphic novel? Count me in! The cover is amazing! It caught my eye the moment I spotted it. The artwork throughout the novel was beautiful and created an atmospheric world that pulled you in visually. The only thing that bothered me was it felt like the plot fell flat; like there wasn't enough there. This would be a great "part one" in my opinion, but it feels like it should keep going. The characters and plot didn't feel as flushed out as they could have been. There is so much potential in this short beautiful graphic novel, but from my understanding it seems like it is a stand alone. It would fit much better into a series.

In this desolate northern land, everything is dying, and a starving scientist and a gullible teenager he's tricked into travelling with him are on their way to find out why. Turns out, for all the fantastical mythos and wondrous beasts, it's a kind of Big Science who's behind it all, stealing all the elemental characters of the forests and the fields before they can become any new growth. Now, that's a wonderful synopsis – it's just a shame the story that begins thus is so poor. Before long we've got not two but three sides against each other, and then we find out some Naked Childish Manga Gods are behind everything, and it all goes to pot. The reduced palette, which had made everything look eerie, desolate and mystical before now, just means you can't tell one side from another, one character from the next, and you soon lose the will to live when it comes to working out cause and effect. It might be OK for readers who can immerse themselves in such a peculiar, fantastical world of multiple peoples, multiple beliefs and suchlike, but I wanted something much more engaging – that had worried less about the smaller details and much more about the bigger picture, such as narrative coherence.

"The Gods tell us what we need to hear in order to achieve their will, Alba. But I warn you, that is sometimes very different from what you think it is."


First, a brief synopsis! Nils: The Tree of Life is a graphic novel steeped in Norse folklore centered around a kingdom where all plants fail to grow and humans and animals alike fail to reproduce. Nils, our titular main character, is a young man with other things on his mind, but as the son of his village's natural scientist, is pulled into a quest to discover the root of nature's decline. After reading I'm pretty torn as to what genre to slot this one into, having both fantastical and science-fiction elements in abundance.

The real selling point of Nils (for me at least) is the art. The style is beautiful, with enough realism to bring the ancient landscapes, from old forests to vast oceans of ice, and the futuristic structures, from towering buildings to cavernous mines, to life. I especially enjoyed the brief glimpses we get at the architecture of the old cities. Personally, I am a huge fan of the blue tones used predominantly throughout the art. I love a good color theme in a graphic novel.

The story itself I found to be captivating and I'm definitely partial to a story that involves meddling gods, what can I say. Like many graphic novels, I wish the characters had been a bit more developed but that seems to be a common downfall of the genre (according to me) and I can't really hold it against Nils here.

Overall, if the cover art appeals to you, I'd say go for it, I would have enjoyed it purely for the art. The unique story and some of my favorite tropes definitely didn't hurt either!

This book mixes fantasy with science fiction, and does it in a very beautiful and interesting way. As a big fan of fantasy, this book surprised me a lot and I love this dark setting and the dystopian world. I think it’s a very original and captivating concept. There are all kinds of creatures in this story, including goddesses. But I think the story could have been more complex, and the same applies to the characters. I would have liked to know more about them. In any case, it’s a book that you'll enjoy and I would love to continue reading about this universe.

As for the illustrations, I can do nothing but applaud. It’s absolutely beautiful. The colors are very dark (wich I love) and the blue tones help to give brightness and that feeling of magic, but also of technology and science fiction. The spirits are highlighted with neon colors, and that gives a lot of dimension to the drawings. In addition, there are so many angles in the illustrations, I especially loved when the height of certain creatures was highlighted, which left me with chills. It’s so stunning.

I spend several minutes absorbing each page, because there are so many beautiful details. There’re scenes that don’t have dialogues, but the message arrives anyways. The illustrations are so powerful, they leave you feeling everything

First up thank you for this book. It looks SO SO GOOD. However I just cannot read it on my computer. Why? Because in normal mode the text is unreadable (too tiny), but if I zoom in on ADE the whole thing just breaks and goes so slow that I cannot read anything without it crashing.

But I did try and I just adored the story that I saw unfolding and the art is just fab. So, I will still be rating this 4 stars, and I hope I can one day find this one somewhere so I can buy it and read it. I want to see more of Nils adventures.

The art in this graphic novel is magnificent. Really the finest I have seen. Some of the pages are breathtaking. I found the story took weird turns that were not expected and not what I was interested in. I love Viking lore and myth but this was more steampunk fantasy. Still, I would stay with this if it became a series as I’d love to see more of the art and where the series goes.

I was hoping for more from this because of the gorgeous cover and I like mythology in many forms. But I had trouble following the story and figuring out what was going on. I don't know if it's because I'm not a regular comic book/graphic novel reader or if the story is just not well-written, but I couldn't easily keep track of the different groups of people (4 main groups as far as I can tell--the boy and his father/village, the girl and her shamanistic people, the technological people from Cyan, and the three goddesses. Part of it is because they would quickly shift from one group to the other and I was sometimes confused about the timeline. The general idea is that the boy and his father realize that nothing is growing and they set out to figure out why, since there have been signs of life in a particular part of the land. As they're about to run tests on a sprout in that area, they are attacked by a big metal thing (from Cyan) and they are saved by the girl and some of her people. Slowly, the details of what's been happening are revealed, but I found it confusing and had to go over parts again. I think this story showed great potential, and the artwork is some of the most redeeming qualities of it, but I don't think the story achieves what the author was trying to achieve.

Thanks to #JérômeHamon, #NetGalley, #DiamondBookDistributors, and #MagneticPress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

<i>I received a copy of this for review purposes through NetGalley. This has in no way influenced my opinion. </i>

If you love art styles, and that is your primary reason for loving graphic novels, buy this and don't bother reading the rest of the review. The art in this is absolutely without a doubt stunning and it is consistently so. You will not be disappointed. I was routinely pulled out of the story to drool over the stunning visuals before my eyes.

However, this book was lacking in plot and character. It had a very interesting premise.No has been able to have children or grow crops because the little soul spirits that are basically life are being gathered by these machines for the Cyan who want to harness their energy and live eternal life and this makes the gods very, very angry. It had so much potential, especially in the beginning. The start and build-up was good and then something switched pretty early on and the book started to pick up the pace way to quickly. Suddenly there were things happening left and right and the characters we had just met were everywhere at every time with little build-up. This made all of the characters feel pretty bland as the story progressed and none of them stood out by the end of the book. It would slow down here and there to establish something (though not really as I was still left with a lot of questions) and then went back to fast and then and then and then pace. While I was able to get immersed in the story and enjoy the stunning visuals, I was often confused and had a lot of questions. However, when this was not the case, I found myself enjoying the story as I had a genuine interest in the concept and the world, I only wish that it had better development and pacing as well as better characters with a proper arc.

Nils: The Tree of Life is a Norse steampunk fantasy graphic novel about a group of gods and teenagers trying to save nature spirits, which is being stolen by the Cyn empire. The story was highly creative and I really got the feeling while reading the novel that Jerome Hamon spent a lot of time constructing the setting of the story. My favorite part of this graphic novel was the art. It was absolutely stunning. Every page was interesting to look at and had so many details. All the characters had unique designs and looked life-like.

I think the book was a bit too fast paced, I sometimes felt like I couldn't tell how much time had pasted in between scenes and felt like the author could have spent some more time flushing out certain scenes.

Overall, I enjoyed Nils: The Tree of Life!